Fleeing drowning scene is not proof of murder, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court has acquitted two men who were convicted of murder after their friend drowned in a river while they fled and went to a movie. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran quashed the trial court and Gujarat High Court verdicts, saying the evidence pointed to accidental drowning, not homicide.

The High Court had held that fleeing the scene and going for a film instead of seeking help was proof of guilt, and sentenced the men to life imprisonment. Disagreeing, the Supreme Court observed that panic and foolish behaviour cannot be the sole basis for a murder conviction. "The human mind can sometimes act foolishly, especially in the face of unpredictable adversity," the bench noted, adding that the hypothesis of accidental drowning was more plausible than a premeditated murder.

The bench found no evidence to prove a homicidal death. It ruled that while the accused's conduct of watching a movie after the drowning was reprehensible, it did not constitute an incriminating circumstance to establish murder. The accused had argued they fled in panic, and the court accepted that the case was at worst a fatal misadventure.